Indonesia urged to send ‘illegal’ e-waste back to the US

Environmental groups are calling on the Indonesian government to send more than 900 seized containers with electronic waste back to where they’re believed to come from: the United States.

In an open letter to president Prabowo Subianto, Basel Action Network (BAN), Nexus3 Foundation, and Ecoton urge ‘decisive action’ to return the 914 containers of suspected illegal electronic waste seized in Batam and are calling for public transparency on all re-export operations.

‘Multiple alerts‘

The groups’ response follows months of ‘mounting scrutiny’ over e-waste shipments held at Batam’s Batu Ampar Port. Under its Operation Can Opener initiative, BAN claims to have sent Indonesian authorities multiple alerts since March 2025, identifying more than 1 500 shipping containers it believes may carry ‘falsely declared e-waste and plastic waste originating in the United States’.

In December 2025, BAN, Nexus3 and Ecoton reported that authorities had ordered the consignees of hundreds of suspected containers to re-export the shipments back to the United States.

The groups urged Indonesia to enforce the Basel Convention and for the United States to take responsibility over the ‘illegal’ exports.

Growing concerns

Since then, the groups say, public information has been limited on which containers had been re-exported and where they were sent. ‘This raises concerns about accountability as publishing container numbers is essential to prevent illicit rerouting and further environmental harm,’ they argue.

‘Indonesia has the opportunity to uphold the sovereignty and health of its people and environment, says BAN’s Jim Puckett. ‘The illegally trafficked e-waste must not be allowed to be resold at auction or diverted to third countries to harm new victims. These shipments must be returned to the same ports and countries from which they came. Those who perpetrated this crime must be punished to the full extent of the law.’

Puckett hopes the open letter will persuade the Indonesian government to ensure seized shipments are handled in compliance with the Basel Convention, which Indonesia ratified in 1993.